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1 Oh, thank God - he's so good! His love never runs out. 2 All of you set free by God, tell the world! Tell how he freed you from oppression, 3 Then rounded you up from all over the place, from the four winds, from the seven seas. 4 Some of you wandered for years in the desert, looking but not finding a good place to live, 5 Half-starved and parched with thirst, staggering and stumbling, on the brink of exhaustion. 6 Then, in your desperate condition, you called out to God. He got you out in the nick of time; 7 He put your feet on a wonderful road that took you straight to a good place to live. 8 So thank God for his marvelous love, for his miracle mercy to the children he loves. 9 He poured great draughts of water down parched throats; the starved and hungry got plenty to eat. 33 God turned rivers into wasteland, springs of water into sunbaked mud; 34 Luscious orchards became alkali flats because of the evil of the people who lived there. 35 Then he changed wasteland into fresh pools of water, arid earth into springs of water, 36 Brought in the hungry and settled them there; they moved in - what a great place to live! 37 They sowed the fields, they planted vineyards, they reaped a bountiful harvest. (Psalm 107:1-9, 33-37 The Message Bible)
Happy Thursday, ConCafe Family! Blessings of peace and grace upon you, blessed Friend! May God's face shine upon you and give you peace. And may that peace be the seed of joy you share with someone today!
Time flies by, and it seems more so the older we become. I remember days thinking about a particular hardship or even a schooldays, "When will this be over?" And now it's more, "I can't believe the days just flew by!" One minute we had a carful of children, smiling, fighting, singing, yelling, laughing, or crying; then it's just the two of us. All those days were blessed, as are these days now. There is remembrance in the heart of the psalmist as he wrote these lines as shared above. Though he himself did not walk the Exodus, in his heart as he heard the ancients tell the tales of those, he joined them in heart and spirit and walked with them, ate with them, suffered with them, cried out with them, and unlike many on the actual journey, praised God for all that God did and shared with them. This morning a friend and I spoke by phone and when he told me his real name and I repeated it, he said, "All the ones who used to call me that are gone." Yes, but to say that name was to walk among them if just for an instant and to utter a brief, "Thank You, God for those who used to call me that," pleases the Lord.
Our walking with Jesus during these forty days of Lent is a reminder and a memory of all that God did for us through His Son Jesus; and if anytime during our daily walk we just briefly say, "Thank You, God for Jesus," we have been in worship. Any reminder, memory, or thought travel that we have in remembrance of God's goodness is an act of worship, and that pleases God and blesses us. The Exodus journey was a foundational teaching of the Christian faith; God with us. We never journey alone. Sufferings do come, but God overcomes them for us. When it comes time to cross the Jordan, God crosses with us, and waits for us on the other side and welcomes us. The welcome outweighs and even erases the bad.
God provides water and food to quench and satisfy our desires and needs. And God continues to do that. We should provide the thanks, and the stories that we have to share with those who hunger and lack for such things. Reminders, memories, and moving on is a theme of our faith. As we make new memories may they be positive and life-giving!
PRAYER: Loving Father, for the good and the bad, we are thankful. We have learned much and we have much to share. May we do so with gratitude in our hearts for all You have done for us and with us. Help us to daily refresh and renew our faith with others. And in all things be glorified. In Christ Jesus we pray, amen!
Have a great and blessed day in the Lord! What reminders, memories and joys do you have to share? What are we waiting for? Share now!
Receive my blessings of hope and joy,
Pastor Eradio Valverde
